BS in Computer Games Development

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Bachelor of Science 2012-2013

Computer Game Development

The BS in Computer Game Development prepares students to work in the multi-disciplinary field of computer gaming and interactive media.
Students specialize in either game design or game programming, but all students work in cross-disciplinary teams to design and develop games. This program was created in consultation with our Game Dev Industry Advisory Board, and is the result of input from many of the top game programmers, producers and designers in the Chicago area. Learn more about admission to this program.

Concentrations

Game Design Concentration A game designer conceives and crafts the rules, structure and experience of a game. The game design concentration equips students to become the next generation of creative leaders in the growing field of games. Throughout the program students will explore and push the boundaries of games as expressive and artistic media. They will develop skills for each phase of the game design and development cycle including ideation, iteration through the creation of multiple playable game builds (including prototypes), and reflection on the effectiveness of their designs using playtesting and written evaluations. Students will also develop skills and confidence in reading, writing, and modifying computer programs and scripts. Students will collaborate in interdisciplinary teams with programmers, artists, producers, writers, and audio designers. This concentration has an emphasis on building a portfolio of games and advancing the medium of games through experimentation and innovation.

Gameplay Programming Concentration Students in this concentration engage in the rigorous study of computer science basics, and then apply this knowledge to the demanding specialization of game programming. Gameplay programmers bring their technical understanding of game internals to the problem of delivering engaging game experiences to players. Areas of study include level design, game scripting, computer graphics development, game physics, and artificial intelligence programming.

Systems Programming Concentration The systems programming concentration emphasizes the internals of a game – the game engine and other systems that make a modern games possible. In addition to computer science fundamentals, students in this concentration cover additional topics in computer hardware and operating systems essential to developing game engines.

Online Learning Options

Many courses are available for review and playback via the CDM Course Online playback system (COL) . If a course is COL-enabled, any student registered in the course has access to the course playback. Students are strongly encouraged to utilize the COL resource wherever available. Some undergraduate courses are offered online. However, CDM currently does not offer any undergraduate program completely online. For more information on online learning at CDM visit the Online Learning page. ​

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